


worn out faces in a mad world

by kopycat_101



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Banter, Black Character(s), Brother-Sister Relationships, Character(s) of Color, Crushes, Gay Male Character, Gen, Implied racism and ableism towards Wendell in their backstory, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Character, M/M, Male Character of Color, Older Characters, One Shot, Post-Apocalypse, Protective Siblings, Sarah and Wendell are wlw-mlm solidarity, Secret Crush, Sibling Bonding, Siblings, Since there's barely any content of these characters welcome to my niche fanfic, Teasing, Zombie Apocalypse, alas the drawbacks of being introduced like 4 seasons in on a show, if the show bothered to give them more screentime and characterization, maybe we'd have more fanfics of them, older siblings roasting their younger siblings is my Favorite Thing, with a niche rarepair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24850933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kopycat_101/pseuds/kopycat_101
Summary: Sarah isn't exactly expecting a visitor in their hideout. She also doesn't expect her baby bro to get a little crush on said visitor.It provides her plenty of ammo to tease Wendell, though, as is her duty of being an older sister.(Season Four, episode 1.)
Relationships: Morgan Jones/Wendell (Fear the Walking Dead), Sarah (Fear the Walking Dead) & Wendell (Fear the Walking Dead)
Kudos: 2





	worn out faces in a mad world

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in [checks my drafts] late 2018. Which was right after I stopped watching TWD and Fear TWD. Decided it made for a decent one-shot to dust off and post.  
> And since it’s Pride month and I hc these siblings as being WLW-MLM solidarity, I just found it fitting.
> 
> I’m giving Sarah and Wendell the backstory and screen time they mcfreaking deserve because they’re worth it. There’s literally no fics that star them...
> 
> Seriously, I love Sarah, she’s the perfect trucker stereotype, a total lesbian, and a great sister on top of that!! And Wendell is a badass!! Love them.
> 
> Fic takes place in episode 1 of Season 4. All knowledge of the characters are from Season 4.

* * *

Sarah could readily admit that finding attractive people in the apocalypse was rare. Like finding a goddamn unicorn out and about in the wild.

And that’s not counting herself and her brother in the equation, neither. Like, she doesn’t wanna brag, but she’s still a looker, even though she’s getting up there in years. And Wendell’s got an amazing profile; fuck anyone that says otherwise. They’d be blind assholes if they didn’t look upon her baby brother with the admiration he deserves.

It’s a rule in general that they stay away from other people. Other people bring trouble. Aside from stealing that neat truck and finding an amazing supply cache—and that whole attempt at kidnapping the liquor-maker guy— they haven’t interacted much with anyone in the past few weeks at all.

It’s easier to take the back roads and get out of the way, taking the routes they know so well to avoid any signs of life, and even un-life.

The dead are the sort of people you see the most of anymore, in this hellish world. They really outnumber any living survivors, which sort of shrinks the pool of people significantly. So finding pretty people is even rarer, like some endangered species that’s dying out, and it makes sense. The people that care about bullshit like looks and social status and money don’t last long in an apocalypse, don’t tend to put stock in survival or practical skills.

Maybe this is just her being a bitter hag at her age, looking back at the past with all its cruelty and unfairness and vapidity—at a past that doomed her brother for his skin color and his physical disability. Maybe the bitterness and the rage never left her, after she quit the Marines for their horse shit.

Maybe she’s always had it, this fury and dark bitterness at the world at large. She knows it’s been in her since the very second Wendell became family— during a time full of fresh turmoil from the civil rights era and the Vietnam War, and she promised herself she’d protect him against _anyone_ that thought he wasn’t worthy of being her brother.

But even being disillusioned from the world doesn’t stop her from noting when someone’s got a good face. Though it could be very well be that beauty standards are scaled way down, since they all mostly see flesh-rotted faces nowadays.

When she comes in the base to see her bro idly pointing his shotgun at a new face, she doesn’t note appearance so much as the fact that this new guy’s alive and carrying a stick, for some reason. It isn’t until she’s gotten a bit closer and exchanged names that she notices that, despite looking tired and haunted like pretty much any other survivor out there, Morgan isn’t too beaten-down. He’s got an aesthetically pleasing face with enough laugh lines to match the frown creases, an openness and kindness to him that’s surprising to see, hope burning a wildfire behind his eyes.

The goodwill Morgan’s got is more attractive than anything else for her. Maybe because it’s so unlike most people, a nice change of pace from the nutters out there.

He’s not exactly her type, considering she’s got no interest in men... But, well— let’s just say that if she’d held any interest, she could see worse people she’d shack up with.

But she knows someone else that’s _definitely_ appreciative of guys that’re kind but capable, and notices after point-three seconds that Wend can’t keep his eyes off the new guy. And it’s not _all_ from caution and paranoia.

Over Morgan’s balding head, she wiggles her eyebrows at her little bro, who instantly flips her off and jerks his head the other way while Morgan takes in the whole of the storefront with awe.

Sarah can’t keep the knowing smirk off her face as she watches Wendell’s cheeks darken, Morgan oblivious all the while.

Later, the new guy tells them of his plan to go find and save his friends back in Texas. It pretty much instantly wins Wend’s admiration and goodwill, though he doesn’t show it past his resting bitch-face for anyone but her to know.

And, well. She could never say no to her brother’s wishes—would give him the world if she could—so she goes along with it all. Agrees to part with some of their precious resources for this determined and kind-hearted man who stumbled in with barely any weapons save a stick, and his apparently lethal charisma.

“ _He’s a catch_ ,” she mouths at her baby bro, while they’re loading supplies in the back of a car for Morgan’s little rescue mission. Wend instantly clips her in the gut with a box that he roughly loads into the trunk, huffing and puffing, and she wheezes out a laugh.

* * *

After Morgan leaves their sight, Wendell lasts all of ten minutes before he hunkers down at the front counter of their base with the broadcasting mic prepped and ready.

Sarah can’t help it—she’s an older sister, and it’s all but programmed in older siblings to tease and piss off their younger siblings. She gives a wolf whistle and a shit-eating grin.

“Lil’ bro, looks like you’ve been shot through the heart,” she starts, twirling the handle of her handy pocket knife idly in her hands, teeth bared all the while. “And with no bullet, but a cupid’s arrow!”

“Fuck off,” Wend grouses, trying to hide his embarrassment from her, and failing. She knows him too well, knows all his tells after so many years. He’s always been the sort to meet your eyes, and he’s currently staring down at the mic with such intensity, he’d melt it with his gaze if he could.

“It’s just like you to fall for the tall, dark, and handsome type,” she goes on, because she can, and she knows she’ll get a rise from him.

There’s a subtle war on her bro’s face, then, behind the pinched look of a frown. “He’s…not tall at all,” he manages to mumble at her lamely after a hot minute of inner debate.

Sarah snorts, clicking her tongue and waving her pocket knife at him admonishingly. “Pretty much _everyone’s_ tall for you, Wendy. **So**. Tall, dark, and handsome.”

Her remarks would get pretty much anyone else shot on the spot, but all it does is get an annoyed groan from him.

“ _Why_ are you like this,” he states more than asks, kneading his forehead with frustration and barely-there mortification.

She grins back at him, all teeth and sunny cheer. “Gotta keep you sharp, Wendy-boy! ‘Sides…” and here, she leans in, feeling like a cat that got the cream. “I think it’s darn cute, y’know?”

“ _God_ — you’re the worst, sis.”

“Oh, and don’t I know it,” she says smugly, spinning on her heel to go back outside. “I’m gonna check on the trucks! Don’t you worry too much ‘bout your little boyfriend callin’, alright? He’ll be fine!”

“He is _not_ my—oi! Sarah! God _damn_ it, come back here, you little—”

Sarah cackled as she hurried out the door, Wendell’s flustered curses fading behind her as the glass drifted shut.

* * *


End file.
